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Mild Mannered Reviews - Teen Titans Comics

Teen Titans #21 Teen Titans #21

Teen Titans #21

Scheduled to arrive in stores: June 26, 2013

Cover date: August 2013

"The Brothers Trigon"

Writer: Scott Lobdell
Dialogue: Tony Bedard
Layouts: Eddy Barrows
Finishes: Jesus Merino
Colors: Pete Pantazis

Reviewed by: Keith Samra

Click to enlarge



The Teen Titans face off with Raven's three brothers. There is a bit of banter back and forth, and finally Superboy takes the first strike by giving the ground a T.K. blast, knocking Raven's brothers of their feet.

Robin splits the teams up into three, and orders them to keep the brothers separated. Wonder Girl and Bunker take the giant axe wielding one, while Solstice and Kid Flash take on the one that can take control of other's bodies. The team of Superboy, Robin, Raven and Beast Boy take on the more powerful of the three. They engage in battle with him, and Raven fuses her Soul-Self with Superboy, as they take him down. While this is going on, the other two teams manage to subdue their opponents. Kid Flash and Solstice share a kiss, after defeating theirs.

Elsewhere, somewhere classified, it seems that Amanda Waller is watching these events unfold in some sort of war room, with a bunch of agents. She is monitoring how the Teen Titans are doing against this threat from the underworld.

Finally after the Titans have managed to subdue the Trigon brothers, the team regroups. Raven and Robin have a conversation about how Trigon will not stop attacking until he conquers Earth's realm. The Titans feeling pleased with themselves, let down their guard... and Trigon strikes again. This time he seems to have taken control of Superboy, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Bunker.

Continued next issue...

2Story - 2: The only way to describe this issue is "PUNCHY, PUNCHY, RUN, RUN!" (A phrase coined by some of my favorite podcasters).

I really have very little to say about this issue. Nothing really happens. All it is, is a continuation of last month's slug fest.

Also Damien Wayne is dead now, so I will be calling Red Robin just Robin from now on.

The Titans fight the three brothers of Raven, son's of Trigon... Who get taken down very easily. I don't understand why editorial felt that they needed 18 pages to tell this story, when it could been told in 3, or 4 at the most. What annoyed me was that Psimon, who was built up to be a real big threat, was nothing more than a throwaway line in this issue. And Superboy literally does just that... He throws him away... or rather down, as he prepares to battle Raven's brothers.

The only interesting things that happen I felt were, Superboy fusing with Raven's Soul-Self powers somehow. Bunker creating armor out of his psionic bricks for himself. Kid Flash and Solstice kissing... and maybe the fact that Amanda Waller is in the issue, though I don't know why they are trying to keep her mysterious, when she guest starred in the books 2 issues ago.

The ending was also a little confusing? Did Trigon come back again? And has he taken control of the rest of half the Titans? Kind of made me feel as if Trigon is a little like Apocolypse from the X-Men books. Using Superboy, Wonder Girl, Bunker and Kid Flash as his Four Horsemen!

I have made comparisons to the X-Men in the past with this book. It really feels like that's what Lobdell is doing with these characters.

I apologize for the low scoring and lack of review for the story, but there was nothing really to review I felt.

Story-wise, this issue is a waste of money!

5Art - 5: Thankfully the art is top notch! Eddy Barrows continues to bring his a high standard to his art. He is an awesome penciller, who makes each page really come alive with the way he draws these characters.

I like the way he portrays Superboy's powers on page 4, with his T.K. punch to the ground. It really shows how much of a powerhouse he really is.

Though it's only one panel, the Beast Boy T-Rex looks really awesome. Great amounts of detail and character at the same time, as he protectively stands over his new team mates.

The final page with Trigon looked great. Story-wise it was confusing, but Barrows did a great job with it!

Eddy Barrows is joined by another favorite of mine this month with Jesus Merino. If you recall, Merino provided the art for the Superman book when the New 52 started. Also, before that, he worked on some stand alone issues of Superman, JSA and was a frequent collaborator with the great Carlos Pacheco.

Merino's own style does not overpower Barrow's pencils and layouts at all in this issue. In fact his inks really complement Barrow's pencils. I really enjoyed this art this issue.

The coloring continues to be awesome. Pete Pantazis has a similar style to Alex Sinclair, and if it weren't for the credits, I'd have assumed it was Alex Sinclair on the colors as usual. I'm starting to really like the glowing effect on Superboy's suit. I feel it's done better here than it is in his own book.

5Cover Art - 5: As last month, again the cover has absolutely nothing to do with what is happening in this issue! All it really is, is a glamour shot of the team... On a poster... On a brick wall.

It looks more like it belongs on a trade paperback, rather than an issue of an ongoing series, that is currently in the middle of a... story line.

However, the illustration itself is nothing short of fantastic, and it deserves a 5 out of 5. I like that Superboy is front and center, taking shots for the team. Kid Flash has a very ninja like pose, but not too out of character for him. Robin flying above looks awesome, as does Solstice. Wonder Girl has a great defensive stance... and Bunker is doing a Wolverine pose with his giant purple glowing hands.

It's a shame, I feel more enamored with the cover, than I do with this entire issue. I would love a poster of this cover.


Mild Mannered Reviews

2013

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

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